Bleacher Report offers up the suggestion that the Bengals should draft the latest USC Trojan quarterback, Mark Sanchez. Their reasoning? Basically that Palmer hasn't been anything close to his 2005 form and that he's not a leader (which by their reasoning means he's not in the spot light). So trade Palmer, for a few draft picks, and draft Sanchez.
I've seen ridiculous, and I've seen ridiculous.
First, let's debunk the John Madden trading proposal. There's the total neglect of other real issues that don't appear as heavily in Madden video games. The new team would be forced to pick up the traded player's contract. Since signing his mega-deal back in 2006, Palmer's salary hits the cap hard. In 2006, he figured $12.98 million against the cap; in 2007 it was $13.48 million; in 2008 it was $13.98 million; basically my Wonderlic intellect says that his number increases $500,000 against the cap every season. With six years remaining on his existing contract, and $70 million expected to be paid in remaining base pay, it's clearly obvious that the new team would have to work a deal more friendly to their cap number.
Furthermore, how would that relate to the uncapped season of 2010 (and beyond), in terms of negotiations? In other words, we project that it would be too difficult based on the assumptions of too many unknowns.
And what draft picks would we get in return? Which team would offer up what the Bengals and Mike Brown would want? We couldn't even trade Chad Johnson for a 2008 first round pick and a 2009 conditional third round pick. Palmer? We could change over every play on the offense through the draft alone, based on the likely value that Brown puts on Palmer.
Secondly, to say that Palmer hasn't returned to his 2005 form, is untrue.
| Season | Yards | TDs | INTs | Att | Cmp | Cmp% |
| 2005 | 3,836 | 32 | 12 | 509 | 345 | 67.8 |
| 2006 | 4,035 | 28 | 13 | 520 | 324 | 62.3 |
| 2007 | 4,131 | 26 | 20 | 575 | 373 | 64.9 |
However personal stats aren't reflective of one's abilities, are they? For example, Palmer hasn't had the advantage of an effective rushing offense since 2005. Furthermore, look at his increased attempted passes from 2005 to 2007. The point there is either the Bengals are playing more from behind earlier in the games, forcing riskier passes or the offensive play-calling is becoming more pass-heavy.
We suspect that the problem is much more academic. No. We think that if Sanchez were brought into the system, the same underlining problems exist on this team. Lack of receiver experience, total lack of protection and questions about the rushing offense. These things are not magically resolved through a new quarterback. Not even close. A rookie quarterback no less.
A bit of irony is displayed here when they write "Cincinnati's Carson Palmer once looked like an MVP caliber player, but has not lived up to his one-hit wonder year of 2005". So, basically what they're trying to tell you is that some team will absorb Palmer's contract, draft away several of their draft picks, for a guy that they JUST called a one-hit wonder. This is rich. You can't make this up. Well, we can't. They apparently can.